The present invention relates to machines for handling, working or otherwise treating plate-shaped workpieces in general, and more particularly to a plate-shaped workpieces cutting press.
There are already known and in widespread use various constructions of plate-shaped workpieces treating machines and cutting presses, among them machines equipped with a movement controlled coordinate table for the positioning of the respective workpiece and a stationary support for the workpiece, such support surrounding the working area of a tool, such as a cutting tool. In some machine constructions of this type, a central workpiece support consisting of articulately interconnected support elements is arranged frontwardly of the tool working area, this central workpiece support being mounted and guided on lateral guides or guide rails of the coordinate table for movement relative to the latter.
In many cutting presses currently in use, the coordinate table is numerically controlled as to its position and movement relative to the cutting tool working area. These cutting presses may be constructed either as machines with a tool storage arrangement in the form of an indexible turret or disk, or as machines equipped with a single cutting tool which is periodically manually replaced by a different cutting tool, or as machines equipped with a storage arrangement for the cutting tools from which the cutting tools are withdrawn as needed and transported into their working positions with the aid of mechanical intermediate members constituting a transporting arrangement for the tools. In any event, it is the function of the coordinate table to accurately position the plate-shaped workpiece, usually a sheet metal workpiece, to be perforated, cut out or subdivided, relative to the respective cutting tool in its working position. This means that the workpiece must be so moved that the cutting tool becomes effective for acting on the respective workpiece in exactly the desired or predetermined relative position thereto.
The coordinate table conducts movements, on the one hand, in directions toward and away from the cutting tool or arrangement, that is, in the direction of the so-called y-axis, or, on the other hand, in directions transverse to the aforementioned directions, that is, along the so-called x-axis. The more exacting are the requirements for the accuracy of the hole pattern to be produced, the better must the workpiece be supported during the movement thereof with the coordinate table and during the individual cutting operations. To achieve this required supporting action for the workpiece, the conventional cutting presses of this type are ordinarily equipped with, on the one hand, a stationary support surrounding the cutting tool or the working area thereof, and on the other hand, a central workpiece support which is situated frontwardly of the cutting tool, is arranged between lateral workpiece resting members or rails which are movable in dependence on the movement of the coordinate table along the y-axis, and consists of a plurality of adjacent elongated support elements which extend in the direction of the x-axis and are articulately connected to one another. Thus, the central workpiece support has a louver-like or blind-like construction.
In the conventional cutting presses of this type, the end of the central workpiece support which is closest to the cutting tool working area, that is, the corresponding last support element, is rigidly connected with the stationary support at the working area of the cutting tool. In this manner, there is obtained a completely closed support surface at the region of the cutting tool.
This large-area support of the workpiece has for its consequence that the operating personnel can reach the area of the central point of the cutting tool only with a substantial degree of difficulty. So long as no pieces need be removed during the working of the respective workpiece or sheet metal object, whether such pieces be resultant waste pieces or cut-out pieces, or whether the plate-shaped workpiece which simultaneously includes a plurality of finished pieces is to be subdivided in the cutting press into such individual finished pieces, the operation of the cutting press is not significantly hampered by the removal of such pieces or parts. The need for removal of the waste pieces or parts can be circumvented by the subdivision thereof by using relatively large cutting tools into relatively small pieces which can then be removed from the tool working area through a discharge chute, that is provided under all circumstances, in the working position. However, such a subdivision entails the use of the corresponding cutting tools for the performance of such a subdivision, and hence an additional operational phase of the cutting press.
When such a subdivision cannot be accomplished, or when the cutting press is equipped with a laser cutting device or a combination of such a laser cutting device with mechanical cutting tools, it is unavoidable when such large-area pieces are being cut out, that these waste pieces or usable pieces which come into being must be removed by hand. This constitutes a very timeconsuming operation and, above all, leads to an interrpution of the controlled operational cycle of the cutting press. This, of course, is very disadvantageous particularly since the cutting press cannot be used to the full extent of its capacity.